'Lost Tudor garden' revealed by Luftwaffe spy pictures from Second World War

A photograph taken by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War has helped unearth what is thought to be the lost Tudor design of a historic garden, the National Trust said today.

The picture shows the land surrounding Lyveden New Bield in Northamptonshire, including an arrangement of ten concentric circles measuring 120 metres across, which could have formed a labyrinth - a popular garden feature of the time.

National Trusts experts also believe the photograph, taken by Nazi aircraft flying over Britain in 1944, shows the last remains of an Elizabethan fruit garden.

'One of the most important garden discoveries of recent times': A photograph taken by the enemy in the Second World War has revealed an historic landscaping design

Gunpowder treason: The son of the unfinished garden's designer Sir Thomas Tresham was implicated in the Gunpowder Plot

The discovery has led to the garden being upgraded by English Heritage to the top Grade I listing, putting it on a par with great gardens such as Stourhead and Studley Royal.

The image sheds light on one of the oldest surviving gardens in the country, which the trust said has been shrouded in mystery since it was begun by Sir Thomas Tresham more than 400 years ago.

Upgraded: The discovery of a Luftwaffe photo of Lyveden New Bield has led English Heritage to update the garden to its Grade I listing

The photograph is part of a series at the United States National Archive at Baltimore in Maryland and was discovered by National Trust gardens and parks curator Chris Gallagher while he was conducting research.

'We checked the database and found the photo existed but when we ordered up the image it revealed far more than we ever expected,' he said.

'Not only did it expose the remnants of the original circular design - set within what Sir Thomas Tresham, who created the garden, then called his 'moated orchard' - you can also make out the vestiges of a regular array of planting holes, which we have taken to be the last remains of an Elizabethan fruit garden.'

Lyveden's property manager Mark Bradshaw described the find as 'probably one of the most important garden discoveries of recent times'.

'We're still not exactly clear what these circles represent, but it's amazing that the outline can be clearly made out in an aerial photograph taken almost 350 years after the garden was created,' he said.

The garden was made by Sir Thomas Tresham but, along with the house, remained incomplete after his death in 1605.

In the same year, his son Francis was implicated in the Gunpowder Plot, and afterwards a large collection of Tresham's correspondence was hidden away at the family's principal home Rushton Hall amid fears of further persecution, the National Trust said.

The papers, which were discovered in 1821 and deposited in the British Library, include detailed plans for the garden.

Mr Bradshaw said: 'Some of the letters refer to 400 raspberries and roses to be planted within Tresham's circular borders, which suggest these are the same circles that appear in the aerial photo.

'A number of interpretations of this layout are possible, including that of a labyrinth, which was a popular feature of gardens of the 15th and 16th centuries.

'Labyrinths were often symbolic and it is likely that the plants within the 'circular borders' were themselves emblematic of religious or regal qualities.'

To give a sense of how the Lyveden garden may have looked when it was created, the National Trust has established a temporary labyrinth, which people would have used for contemplative walks along the long winding path, by mowing a pattern into the grass.

U-turn on smoking ban as Holland ALLOWS lighting up in 2000 bars and pubs

Smokers in the Netherlands will now be able to light-up again in over 2000 of the country's small owner-operated bars or pubs.

The partial over-turning of the blanket ban, which was introduced in 2008, is a huge victory for for smokers' rights campaigners who had argued that the blanket ban was driving small bar owners out of business.

An incoming coalition government in the country has allowed the partial lifting of the ban for pubs which are less than 743.5 sq ft in size and which are staffed solely by the owner.

Light up: The Netherlands is the first country to partially overturn its smoking ban. Smokers in small bars and pubs will now be able to light up without fear of a fine

It is a major victory for anti-ban campaigners and the first relaxing of the controversial ban anywhere in Europe.

Meanwhile in Spain, smokers are up in arms after the announcement that a smoking ban in public places will come into effect in January 2011.

Prominent anti-ban campaigner Weil Maessen told The Sun: 'This is great news for small bars and the common man. Lower-class people tend to drink in these places and they were being punished'.

'Small bars have an important social function. Public health workers tell us smoking is bad for you. Well, the ban is very bad for your social and psychological health'.

He added, 'I hope that the same thing happens in the UK now'.

Dutch health minister Edith Schippers promised that impromptu smoking checks by food and consumer safety inspectors would now be stopped.

'The new law will allow consumer choice. A sign will inform customers whether or not they are allowed to smoke on the premises,' she said.

The government has also canceled 280 fines related to the ban.

Ireland was the first European country to introduce the ban in 2004 with the UK following with a blanket ban in 2007.

Labour had initially promised that pubs not serving food and private members' clubs would be exempt from the ban and many have complained bitterly about the effect to their business.

Earlier this week, it emerged that Trimdon Labour Club in Sedgefield, former Prime Minister Tony Blair's constituency, is due to close for good, with the smoking ban being partly to blamed for a lack of custom.

But the smoking ban looks set to stay in the UK with no partial exemptions, for the time being at least.

The coalition has indicated that a review of the ban this autumn, promised by Labour, will not take place.

It had been feared that the ban would be extended even further to prohibit smoking in beer gardens and doorways.

Campaigners in favor of the ban point to research from the Department of Health suggesting that in the year after the ban, the number of heart attacks plummeted by 10 per cent.

Friday, November 5, 2010

US to spend $200m a day on Obama's Mumbai visit

MUMBAI: The US would be spending US $200 million (Rs 900 crore approx) per day on President Barack Obama's visit to the city.

"The huge amount of around $200 million would be spent on security, stay and other aspects of the Presidential visit," a top official of the Maharashtra government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit said.

About 3,000 people including Secret Service agents, US government officials and journalists would accompany the President. Several officials from the White House and US security agencies are already here for the past one week with helicopters, a ship and high-end security instruments.

"Except for personnel providing immediate security to the President, the US officials may not be allowed to carry weapons. The state police is competent to take care of the security measures and they would be piloting the Presidential convoy," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Reports that US has moved 34 warships to Mumbai is absurd: US

WASHINGTON: Dismissing news reports as totally absurd, the US has denied that it has moved some 34 war ships around Mumbai, where President Barack Obama would arrive on the wee hours of Saturday, the Pentagon has said.

"That's just comical. Nothing close to that is being done," Pentagon spokesman, Geoff Morrell, told reporters at a news briefing.

Morrell was responding to questions about news reports appearing in various Indian media that the Pentagon has deployed a substantial number of its resources in India before the visit of the US President to India.

Obama reaches Mumbai on the wee hours of Saturday. "We obviously have some support role for presidential travel. We don't speak to that in detail for security reasons. But I will take the liberty this time of dismissing as absolutely absurd this notion that somehow we were deploying 10 per cent of the Navy -- some 34 ships and an aircraft carrier -- in support of the President's trip to Asia," Morrell said.

"The notion that the President would require security as he travels to India and elsewhere should not come as a surprise to anyone. I mean this is a country that, sadly, withstood a devastating terrorist attack.

So it stands to reason that we would want to take precautions for Presidential travel," Morrell said in response to a question.

However, the Pentagon refused to answer question on if the US has received any special security requests for the presidential visit.

"We would not speak to you about special security requests. We wouldn't speak to you about any security requests.

All we'll say is that this department does play a role in support of presidential missions, but we don't care to, for security reasons, discuss the particulars of that," he said.

"I made an exception in batting down this absurd notion of there being 34 ships, or more than 10 percent of the Navy, deployed in support of this trip.

Fireworks Night Twice Over as Diwali Lights Up Guy Fawkes

- First time for 38 years that the two events have fallen on same day

Friday, 5th November 2010

MESSAGE to Guy Fawkes: never mind the Protestants, it's the Hindus and Sikhs you want to worry about this year.
The Catholic firestarter goes up against Diwali, the Festival of Lights, this 5 November, the first time since 1972 that the two events have fallen on the same day.
Since then, Diwali has expanded out of its Indian community base to become an annual landmark in the London festival calendar. The main official celebrations were held last weekend on Trafalgar Square, but that won't stop thousands of local Diwali events going ahead.
Luckily for Fawkes and co., what's good for Diwali is good for Bonfire Night, as the Hindu/Sikh celebration takes place on the night of the darkest moon of the lunar month, so not only will there be double the fireworks this year, but you'll see them twice as well.
Here are some of the best organised displays fired up for the weekend:Friday 5 NovemberClapham Common
Fireworks at 7.30pm, FreeSaturday 6 NovemberBattersea Park
Fireworks at 8pm, £6Roundwood Park
Fireworks at 8pm, FreeSunday 7 NovemberVictoria Park
Fireworks at 7.30pm, FreeRichmond Athletic Ground
Fireworks at 6.30pm, £8

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So much news today is dull, depressing, controversial. It's almost impossible to watch news without hearing story after story of war, terror, killing, destruction, government, corruption, etc. I come across weird and wonderful news items as I scan the worlds press that put a smile on ones face or distract one from all the doom and gloom. These are the stories that will make up "The Quirky Globe". If you have any reactions to articles please leave a comment.... it may encourage debate. Pass this site on to your friends who are also fed up with mainstream news and become a follower. Enjoy and smile.